When the Levee Breaks
by The McQuaid Brothers
Summary: Set in "Free to Be You and Me" season 5, after Sam decides to give up hunting, and finds out he is Lucifer's vessel. Instead of calling Dean he decides to take matters into his own hands. If there's no Sam, then Lucifer can't possess him, right? Sam tries to kill himself to avoid being possessed by Lucifer, but how are Dean and Cas going to feel about that?
1. Chapter 1

Dean had just started to feel better about separating from Sam when it happened. It had taken days for him get over his anger towards him and accept that he needed a time-out. And you know what? He was good. For the first time in a long time he was actually beginning to enjoy himself.

That was, until Cas showed up.

"Dean," He said, making Dean flinch and curse under his breath. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel of the Impala.

"You gotta stop doing that, Cas."

However, Cas didn't seem to hear him. He looked terrible, well, terrible for an angel. His clothes and hair were unkempt, and his usually cool composure seemed to be cracking.

"Cas," Dean prodded.

"You have to help, Dean. I'm sorry, but I can't take it anymore."

By now it was hard for him to keep his attention on the road. He had never seen the angle so eratic.

"It's Sam."

And with that one sentence, Dean's blood ran cold, he pulled over to the side of the road knowing that if something happened to his brother he would probably crash the car.

"Cas, what's going on, dammit!"

Before he could react, Cas outstretched his hand towards Dean and placed two fingers on his forehead.

They're surroundings changed and the next thing he knew he was standing in a clearing in the middle of the woods, Cas slightly swaying next to him. In front of them, was Sam.

Sam was on his knees, sweating visibly and breathing heavily. A gun poised at his temple with a finger on the trigger.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, making his way towards him. He snatched at the gun only to have his hand go right through it.

"It's useless, Dean. I wasn't able to transport us here in full, due to the marks on you and your brother's ribs. We can see what's happening, but we cannot interfere."

Dean stood back, with anxiety, as Sam's finger twitched.

"What did you mean I can help?" Dean asked, still backing away from Sam, afraid that if he approached any closer the gun would go off.

Cas didn't respond, but instead placed a hand on Dean's shoulder and pulled him backwards. Finally, Sam took a deep breath, appearing to be at peace.

The gun went off with a bang.

"No!" Dean shouted. He knew it was useless, but he tore off for his brother anyway. Blood immediately began to seep through the hole in Sam's head as his body slumped to the ground.

Dean's hands went to his brother, hoping maybe somehow he could fix all this. But Cas grabbed hold of him once more and took him away.

"No! Let me go!"

Dean could feel the angel's grip tightening around him and knew there was no way he would get free. His eyes began to water and he blinked rapidly trying to will the tears away.

They stood there, Cas holding Dean, neither of them making any moves.

Then Sam began to glow.

"What-what's going on?"

A ball of light, maybe the size of a softball, rose above Sam. Dean had to shield his eyes, only peeking through the cracks in his fingers to see what was happening.

Cas made no effort to protect his eyes from the blinding light. The light had traveled a few feet above Sam's body before a ghastly shadow ascended from the ground and pulled it down. Dean could just make out a voice, like a whisper in the wind, it gave him goosebumps, or rather, it would have, if his body was really there.

He couldn't make out what it was saying, but he caught one word- "Sammy".

Then, just like that, the darkness surrounding the light pushed it down till it reached Sam's stomach and was absorbed into his body. The billowy darkness sank into the Earth, and only Sam remained.

Dean approached his little brother once more and noticed that there wasn't any trace of blood, the hole in Sam's head was gone.

Before Dean could get any closer, Sam curled forward and tipped over on his side, heaving and gasping. And then, still shaky, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a sharp dagger, with both hands, he raised it upwards, pointed it straight at his heart and-

Dean was back in the Impala.

"Cas," He said tentatively, "what-"

"Sam's soul."

"Wait, wha-"

"What you saw back there, that sphere of light, that was Sam's soul. They don't normally shine like that Dean, human souls. Although they are rare, they are not hard to pick out. Ghandi, Mother Teresa, for example. Their souls shine brighter than the average human, but Sam, I have never seen one so intense, so...beautiful. All this time it has been hiding under the taint of demon blood. You have to understand, as an angel, there is a drive in me to protect God's creation of man. Sometimes it is easy to ignore, especially when I bare witness to your World Wars and genocides. But when I come across the good, whether it is a simple act of kindness or the unition of thousands when disaster strikes, I can't push it down. It's the good I see in Sam, and it's...hard for me to see him, his soul, suffer. There is something I must tell you Dean and that is that Sam is Lucifer's vessel, as you are Micheal's. Sam knows this, and as you have seen, he has been trying to "help" by eliminating himself."

Dean sat back for a moment, trying to control his emotions. He was still in a bit of a shock from their recent escapade, and the new information didn't help things, but he did have a basic understanding of the situation.

"And it didn't work," was all Dean said.

Cas appeared to be slightly relieved that Dean was processing the information without emotional interference.

"No, it didn't. Lucifer is using his power to keep Sam trapped on Earth and in his body."

"So that ball of light, er, Sam's soul, where was it going?"

There were only two options, and Dean feared the answer.

"Heaven, of course. Although, sadly, Sam believes that when he truly dies, he will be sentened to damnation."

Despite Dean's earlier concern for Sam, all Dean wanted to do now was find him and throttle him for being such an idiot. How could he do that to Dean? What if he had died and Dean ended up never knowing what happened to him? He was going to have a talk with that little shit very soon.

"So what do you want me to do Cas?"

"Stop it. Ever since Lucifer was set free angels felt they needed to keep an eye on Sam. I volunteered, but I can't watch him do this to himself anymore."

It felt like Dean was seeing Cas in a new light, like he was discovering a whole new side to him. He had seen Cas curious, empathetic, even remorseful. But this was a new one, this was Cas _begging_. An all powerful angel of the Lord practically on his knees in front of a human.

Dean thought for a minute.

"Where is he?"

/

Hours later, when Dean had driven down to the city Cas specified, he arrived at the dive motel Sam was surely staying in. And after asking the receptionist for a certain pseudonym, he was directed towards the back of the motel. The room closest the woods.

Tentatively, he knocked on the door.

**REVIEW, MAYBE? SHOULD I CONTINUE?**


	2. Chapter 2

"Sam?" Dean questioned, "Are you in there?"

He waited a couple more seconds before knocking again, harder.

"Come on, Sam. Open up."

Still no answer.

Without any other options, and his lock-picking kit in the Impala, he kicked the door open.

Inside, on the bed farthest from the door, was Sam. His arm dangling down the side and half his leg falling off, he wasn't breathing.

"Sam? Sammy!?"Dean exclaimed. He was at Sam's side in seconds, pushing him back on the bed and checking him for physical damage. It wasn't until he noticed the bottle of pills on the nightstand that he stopped. He froze where he was, staring at Sam's lifeless body. God, he was so pale. Slowly, he sat down on the opposite bed, madly wiping his sleeve against his eyes.

Sam would come back though, right? He had seen it.

And after a few painful minutes, while Dean's head was in his hands, Sam came around. He doubled over, as he had in the forest, coughing and sputtering till he all but fell off the bed. Dean was there in an instant, helping his brother sit up and lean against it, he placed his hands on the sides of Sam's face and forced him to look up. Sam's eyes, which had previously been shut, were slowly opening and focusing on Dean.

"Dean?"

"Yeah, Sammy, it's me."

Before Dean could say anything else, Sam attempted to swat away his hands and move out of his grasp, shaking his head.

"Sam, what is it?"

"Go. Just go. I'm tired of seeing you all the time."

Sam's words were a little sluggish but he managed to catch what he said.

"Sammy," Dean started, unsure of where to begin, "We haven't seen each other in weeks."

It was at this point that Sam stood up and really, _really_, scrutinized his brother.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Cas told me where you were."

Sam sat back on the bed, rubbing his eyes, and ran a hand through his hair. Dean remained standing, the anger towards Sam's actions was replacing his earlier concern.

"How would Cas know? Didn't he brand us with some sort of angel voodoo?"

"Yeah, well, Heaven wasn't really cool with that whole 'starting the apocalypse' thing you did, and wanted you on their radar. Cas volunteered to "monitor" your actions. He told me everything, Sam. He asked me to help because he couldn't stand seeing you do this to yourself! Do you know how upset he was? He was practically _begging _for me to get you to stop. Dammit, Sam! What the hell were you thinking?"

With each sentence Dean could feel his anger rising, Sam, however, seemed defeated.

"I'm trying to do the right thing here, Dean."

"So, what? You just get up, get dressed, and go kill yourself everyday? Is that it? Clearly, that's not working, Sam. So why don't you just cut the bullshit."

Sam sighed and leaned back, only upsetting Dean even more. How could he be so passive about this?

"I'm Lucifer's vessel, Dean!" Sam exclaimed, at least showing some sign of human emotion, "People, innocent people, are going to die if I don't find a way to gank myself. Sometime, maybe sometime soon, Lucifer's going to find a way to break me, and then we'll all be screwed for sure. But if I figure out how to eliminate myself, then there won't be any problem. Lucifer's current vessel is dying away, and sooner or later, it's going to be gone. I've already tried praying to an angel, any angel, to be smote into oblivion, if they think I'm such a troublemaker, why won't they do it? You said that Cas didn't want to see me do this to myself anymore, why? He and I aren't exactly the best of friends, why the hell would he care?"

Sam had stood up during his little speech, an was now out of breath, waiting for Dean's response.

"You selfish bastard."

Sam stepped back, surprised. Dean could hardly stand to look at him.

"And after all this thought, you didn't think about how it would affect me? You thought you could just slip away and not even leave a goddamn note? How could you do that? Especially after what I did to get you back?"

"That was your choice, Dean, not mine. And what does it matter? You can't even trust me anymore. Once I'm gone you don't have to worry about me, you can go see Lisa, be apart of their family and not have to worry about the damn apocalypse hanging over your head. I'm a monster, you said it yourself. I can't be saved. Let me go."

"Hold on, hold on! When the hell did I say that? Because I sure as hell don't remember it."

"You left me a voicemail," Sam said flatly, quickly grabbing his phone off the nightstand and tossing it at Dean, who caught it with ease. He pushed a few buttons and held it up to his ear. Sam watched as Dean's expression turned from surprise, to disbelief, to shock. When it was over Sam saw him delete the voicemail and toss the phone on the bed.

"I never sent you that message, Sam. "

Now it was Sam's turn to be surprised.

"What are you talking about?"

"I left you message but I never said-" Dean stopped and a look of annoyance took over his features, "Ruby."

Sam understood, he bit his lip and sat back down on the bed.

"I still have to do this, Dean."

"Is that it? You're just going to give up? We're family, Sam! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

**THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY, FOLKS!**


End file.
